Category: Giving Back (49)

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While evaluating your current employment situation or looking for your next opportunity, there are many factors to consider, but one thing that is often overlooked throughout the interview process is a company’s practices in regards to diversity and inclusion. With large enterprise companies such as Facebook falling short of their ambitious diverse hiring goals, it’s no surprise that smaller companies struggle as well. To combat this, many companies are choosing to build diversity objectives into their core concepts, effecting everything from the hiring process to employer branding.

Companies who instill such values from day one tend to be rated higher in overall employee satisfaction, and recent findings are actually showing that diverse hiring affects more than one would think. From the bottom-line to notoriety and resume boosters, here are 3 reasons why working for a company who values diversity is a smart career move:

1.Business success. While diversity and inclusion might not seem like issues that would impact the budget, recent trends have shown otherwise. A 2015 McKinsey & Company study found that companies with greater gender diversity and ethnic diversity are 15% and 35%, respectively, more likely to have financial returns above the national industry medians. PagerDuty, a Silicon Valley favorite, made headlines last year for hiring their first female CEO and has since received their largest funding round yet. In a similar success story, JellyVision, recent winner of a Best Tech Workplace for Diversity Timmy Award, has almost reached gender-parity within the organization and recently raised $20M in funding. Consumers and investors vote with their dollars, and working for a company that values diversity can provide you a financially stable workplace.

2.Expanding knowledge. Having a variety of decision-makers at the table leads to forward thinking business solutions, and working in an environment that exposes you to this is a great way to develop your career. Collaborating with colleagues from diverse backgrounds provides a voice to uncharted ideas, opens the door to innovative problem-solving processes, and gives a unique perspective to the discussion. Additionally, most companies who have these values provide continued learning programs and educational seminars to encourage employees to further their knowledge. While a forward-thinking work environment can be more challenging than a typical workplace, it will open the door to invaluable career experience you might not otherwise receive.

3.Industry respect. Working at a company that receives attention for diversity efforts can be just as valuable as working with the most revolutionary tech – and they often overlap. Ensuring that companies are recognized for their workplace achievements not only encourages innovation, but also extends the benefit to employees who have been a part of the development. The placement of a forward-thinking company on your resume will always catch a hiring manager’s eye, and being a thought leader in diversity is no different. For example, Lever, notorious for having a 50:50 gender ratio, received a barrage of positive press surrounding their Diversity and Inclusion Handbook in 2017. Additionally, a number of awards programs are dedicated to honoring employers’ efforts, like Workbridge Associates’ own Tech in Motion event series created the “Timmy Awards” to recognize the best work cultures across the nation.

While job seekers might have an extensive list of boxes to check off when searching for a new role, adding a box for diversity will aid you in finding the best work environment to further your career. Diversity can impact everything at a business from funding to employee satisfaction, and is a smart item to keep on your “must-have” list as you make your next professional move.

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There seems to be a lack of candidates and hiring managers these days interested in contract-to-perm positions, but why? A contract-to-perm position, also called contract-to-hire, is when employers would like to bring on a full-time employee but don’t want to commit to a permanent hire right up front. In most cases, a contract-to-perm employee will work on a specific project for a few months in hopes that their role will be converted into full-time.

As an employee, before you turn down a potential job opportunity just because it isn't "full time," consider how working a contract-to-perm job benefits you. There are three immediate ways that you can use this role to your advantage: the resume impact, the compensation, and the job itself.

1.Resume-building

Names like IBM, Microsoft, and Apple don’t look too bad on a resume, now do they? Enterprise companies are constantly looking for contractors to work on their various projects. Not only that, but because the contract phase of the job usually lasts three to six months, you have the option to leave and pursue opportunities to work for several big-name companies – without the stigma. You can beef up your resume with some impressive work experience without the negative "job hopping" connotation. Additionally, the connections that you make during your contract role can prove valuable should you choose to come back, stay, or pursue a permanent role later on.

2.Money Maker

Another reason why recruiters and hiring managers might stress contract-to-perm is because you can actively look for another job while still making money. If for some reason, you don’t like the job, you don’t have to accept an offer at the end of the contract to be converted to a full-time employee. This role essentially can be summed up to “try before you buy.” It’s okay to keep your options open. Contract-to-perm jobs also generally have a higher hourly rate than salary positions when broken down, because you’re paid for every hour you work (including overtime!). It’s the best of both worlds.

3. On the Job

Contract-to-Permpositions have some of the fastest onboarding processes we see from any of our clients. These companies are looking to get the job done as fast as possible because they have a pressing requirement for more hands on deck. The interview process tends to be easier as well – “Can you do the job? Yes? Great!” - because there is less emphasis on culture fit since they're going to see how you mesh in person. In most cases, you also can be more flexible with your hours. If the work is getting done, and you’re committing the appropriate number of hours each week, your employer will be happy. Frequently, you’ll be exposed to additional technologies, building your skillset, while utilizing the tools you’re familiar with and the hiring manager needs. Remember, the bottom line of these positions is to complete a project.

This ‘trial’ period is mutually beneficial for the employee and the employer. That's right, there are benefits for the employer, too. Wondering why a hiring manager would want to hire on a contract instead of permanently? With contract-to-perm positions, employers win in terms of the hiring process, the job itself, and the future.

4. Hiring Process

As we mentioned, the onboarding for contract-to perm-positions is typically quick and relatively painless, especially with recruiting agencies like Workbridge. When looking for contractors, hiring managers are looking to fill an urgent need and thus don’t want to sift through a multitude of resumes. Hiring managers can focus on who will get the job done right now, instead of focusing on the right ‘culture’ fit long term. Also, when hiring for contract-to-perm roles, many managers work with recruiting agencies that provide benefits like healthcare and PTO, while also streamlining the hiring process for the company. Thus, the hiring process will take less time and money.

Being that contract-to-perm positions are more like ‘trial’ periods, if you find the candidate isn’t a good fit, you are not committed to taking them on full-time. The arrangement lets you weigh their skills versus how they fit in as an employee, without having to commit right away. As recruiters, this trumps any argument about not hiring contract-to-perm. A hiring manager can see firsthand a potential employee’s skillset and capabilities for growth before bringing them on full-time.

6. The Future

There are two scenarios that can happen with a contract-to-perm employee that can affect the future, both for the better. Say the hire is great and gets the project done but for whatever reason, doesn’t take/get offered to be put on full-time. That candidate will always be someone you can add to your network. If ever there was a time in the future when you need a project done, you know that you can call that person to get it done. On the other hand, if you flip the employee into full-time, you already know what you’re getting. The employee has already proven themselves as an asset and is a great cultural fit.

If you haven’t thought about hiring contract-to-perm or accepting that sort of position, give it a shot. It can open a whole new avenue of potential opportunities. Contact a Workbridge Associates in your city to kick start the process.

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The interview is widely considered to be the most important part of the job seeking process, but how do you get there? To be considered for a desirable position, you need to stand out among other qualified applicants. Are you bringing the right tools and skills to the table? Before you’re even looking for your next job, do the homework to make sure you’re a top-tier candidate by the time you apply.

Sam King, Division Manager of Workbridge Associates New York, has some valuable market insight on the best practices for positioning yourself as a desirable candidate in the competitive IT job market of today.

Whether you are entry level or an expert in your field, knowing what’s expected in your industry should be the first step in any career, and especially your job search. In any given role, your scope of work and responsibilities will vary drastically depending on your experience level, tech stack, and ability to manage others. Soft skills and hard skills both play a role in determining your experience level.

Soft skills usually involve user interaction, or business side interaction with product, marketing, sales etc. and are most necessary for IT managers.

A junior engineer is traditionally less involved in these areas. Soft skills like excellent communication and understanding tech’s role in driving business are gained over time as opposed to hard skills, which are usually more relevant to design, architecture, development and implementation of specific technologies.

Junior candidates spend the majority of their time focusing on building and integrating systems but aren’t ultimately driving the decisions behind the scenes.

Decision making is reserved for the senior staff, who have the ideal perspective to make well-informed business decisions.

Get Familiar with Your Audience

Research the companies you’re interested in. Talk to people in your network and check out recent press about them. What type of company culture do they have? Is there room for growth? Is it a team environment? Which technologies are they using? What are people saying about them online? Who’s on the leadership team and what makes them successful? What types of products or services do they offer? Would you use their product or service? This research will give you the best indication if you’re a good fit, not to mention your knowledge of the organization is sure to impress the hiring manager conducting the interview!

Level the Playing Field

What do other professionals in your field have certifications in?

Are they publishing their work on popular code repositories like GitHub, HackerRank & BitBucket? Candidates who show initiative in acquiring certifications for new technologies will find themselves at the front of the line when compared with candidates who stick to the status quo. You’ll be able to better position yourself for success by modeling your efforts after the best practices of others who have come before you. A study conducted by IT Business Edge claims that “Forty percent of tech consultants said obtaining a certification helped them land a new gig.”

Tailor Your Resume

Your resume should be adjusted for each job you apply to. Emphasize the most relevant skills required for the job in your summary, skills section and in your work experience. The ideal resume length is one to two pages, so avoid cluttering it with irrelevant experience. It should be easy to navigate and reflect your ability to provide a solution for a current business need, as well as showcase any subject matter expert contributions you've made as a thought leader.

Make Your Web Presence Shine

Your online profiles (LinkedIn, About.Me, etc.) are the first things potential employers will see when evaluating you for a position. Check LinkedIn and About.Me to make sure your message is clear and accurately describes your ability to contribute to the organization. What type of language are people with similar jobs using to describe their experience? Let others know what technologies you work with, what certifications you have and the level of experience you can bring to the table. Sam King, Division Manager of Workbridge Associates New York, has this to say about what helps candidates stand out:

Consider every interaction an interview, whether with a potential hiring manager or a connection that could be a reference for you in the future. Practicing interview Q&A’s before the job search will help you seem intelligent, personable and prepared in any interview or conversation, as well as help you conceptualize what your best qualities and career desires are. In an actual interview, the line of questioning tends to follow a common theme. Research typical questions asked in technical interviews and prep answers for each. You shouldn’t be surprised by questions like “What role do you think you’re a perfect match for?” or “What’s a personal challenge you’ve been able to overcome?” in a job interview, and you shouldn't be surprised by them outside an interview.

You're probably wondering why the above graph illustrates that having "0 years" or no years of experience in the tech industry can get you a higher paying salary than someone who has one or two years. Surprisingly, an entry-level university or college graduate with little to no experience can actually negotiate at 4% higher salary than their peers who already have some experience in the industry.

1. With a shortage of tech talent, there is fierce competition amongst big companies to attract engineers and tech graduates right out of school.

2. If the candidate has little experience, but is already searching for a new job, it's a big indicator that something went wrong, such as termination of employment. It could also indicate that a person is looking for some type of career change (industry, company, technology, location, etc.) and would be willing to settle for a lower salary.

3. Once graduated, many young people try to find success as entrepreneurs. If that fails, a lot of them will then resort back to the job market, where their experience as entrepreneurs partially counts but their earnings at the time were little to none. Therefore, there is more leverage for an employer to offer less.

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Companies (much like singles these days) are always looking for great candidates to join their team, similar to how people are always in search of "the right one." This is especially true when it comes to hiring a permanent candidate or even a short-term contractor.

Whether it's on a perm or contract basis, companies can't afford to waste their time with potential candidates who are not serious about their search. The truth is 40% of employees who quit their job last year did so within six months of starting the position (via INC). So how can you avoid this? Perhaps taking your search for exceptional talent to a recruiting agency, a hiring matchmaker if you will, could be your best option for finding "the right one" to join your team.

Why hire a professional matchmaker? Here are a few ways they can effect your hiring process so you be more efficient with your time and energy:

1. Provide a pre-screening step to make sure applicants are what you see.

Recruiters go through a process when verifiying candidates: they talk to them, meet with them in person, check their references, and run a background check. At Workbridge, our contractors are on a W2 and are treated as our own employees, so candidates need to be able to pass our inspection. Companies can rest easy when it comes to the quality of the candidates good matchmakers are providing.

2. Cater to compatibility so you don't waste time qualifying candidates.

Every recruiter also should screen each candidate to ensure they are a fit for the role. Ideally, they would talk to the candidates about their experience and the position to ensure a match. Recruiting agencies that know what they're doing don't waste a hiring manager's time with candidates who are not a fit, and with an outside perspective can sometimes find the diamond in the rough a hiring manager might have missed.

3. Save you time, energy, and effort by doing the hard work.

Recruiters are responsible for helping the candidate through the process, which includes pay rate conversations. They take on the responsibility of providing benefits information, and even supplying benefits for contractors, as well as explaining workplace insurance and background checks. They are trained and experienced to make the process of finding and bringing on the right candidate as fast as possible.

4. Find great candidates you might not find on your own.

Top recruiters have a large network and diverse methods that make finding these hard-to-reach candidates possible. At Workbridge Associates, we even sponsor networking meetups through our event series, Tech in Motion, in all of our active cities. Why waste time companies combing through resumes to find "the one" (or the few)? The goal of skipping this step in the process is to give you more time to talk to qualified candidates, instead of spending that time trying to track them down.

But before you enter into the recruiting process, or the matchmaking world, consider the following:

Don't go in with unrealistic expectations.

Even the best recruiters still aren't miracle workers. Recruiters and hiring managers have the same goal: get your open roles filled with the best possible candidate that you can afford. It helps to have an open mind and hire the person who fits.

Go into the process with a positive attitude.

Looking for the candidate that fits the role, matches the company culture, and can get the job done is priority. Finding all the reasons why the person isn't perfect is not.

It takes money to make money.

Using an agency has its costs, even though options like contracting make it more affordable. The tech talent market is competitive, and you get what you pay for in terms of quality - whether it's a candidate or the recruiting agency you're working with. However, being up front about costs and willing to compromise could help a good recruiter find a way to work within your budget.

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With 19 offices across North America, Workbridge Associates has a few thousand records of recent job openings and placements in the tech industry. A big part of being in the recruitment industry is monitoring the trends in job openings and salaries. As we begin 2017, we wanted to take the opportunity and build our own predictions about salaries in the tech sector for the year.

Our research is not only based on job openings, but on actual placements after all the negotiations and final compensations for candidates. This report contains information about full-time permanent salaries and does not include contract or freelance jobs. We took four years of data, ranging from 2013 to 2016, and divided it by experience and the cities in which we had enough data for. Here's what to expect in 2017:

A 3% or more increase in salary

Based on our research, the average salary for a software engineer should increase to $107,745 or slightly over 3% compared to 2016.

The Biggest Tech Salary Increases Happen In Tech Hubs

Based on the forecast for 2017 by cities, New York will have the biggest salary increase by 4.5% with San Francisco not far behind with a 4% increase.

Forecast on Tech Salaries Changes by the City

City

2013 - 2016 Change

2017 Forecast

Boston

12.4%

2.1%

Chicago

16.6%

3.1%

Los Angeles

12.6%

3.2%

New York

22.2%

4.5%

Orange County

8.9%

2.2%

Philadelphia

6.6%

1.7%

San Francisco

20.1%

4.0%

San Jose

14.0%

3.0%

Washington DC

11.3%

2.8%

Expect a 3-3.5% increase regardless of experience

On average, we can expect a 3-3.5% salary growth each year. If you're looking for a new opportunity in tech, contact a Workbridge office in a city near you!

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Over the past 27 years, Workbridge Associates has worked with hundreds of thousands of engineers across North America to help find these tech professionals their dream jobs. While the vast majority end up in positions that pay between $50,000 and $140,000, we have also placed many engineers at the $200K-$300K+ range. Based on placements done over the last three years, Workbridge pulled together a guide to tell you what you need to do to get there, with data about the highest paid salaries by location, experience, skill set, and more.

Based on experience, Workbridge has found that you can be the greatest developer with a Ph.D. in Engineering, but a $200K position may not exist in the geographic region you live in. As the report signifies, most of the job openings in the $200K range are located in San Francisco, San Jose, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

While it's still possible to reach the $200K level elsewhere, if you’re not open to relocating to a place where the pay is higher, you may be limiting yourself. For the full report and more details on how you can earn the highest salary, such as skills and experience level, read the full article by clicking below.

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Military veterans are a great talent pool to dip into, and companies are noticing. In fact, this blog by the U.S. Department of Labor points out that the unemployment rate for veterans is constantly below the unemployment rate of non-veterans. Are you thinking about hiring a veteran at your company? Having worked with quite a few veterans to place them at tech jobs, Jennifer Talwar, Practice Manager at Workbridge Silicon Valley, gives you five great reasons below why your next employee should be a veteran.

1. Ability to work on a team

Being able to work well on a team is one of the first things that can get someone hired. You can have an amazing resume with all the "hot skills listed," but as soon as you are on an onsite interview and not able to demonstrate that you are a team player, the interview is over. "From my experience, all the veterans that I have worked with have those key teamwork skills that hiring managers are looking for," says Jennifer.

2. Pride in their work

More than the average candidate, veterans always have a strong sense of pride in their work and their personal brand. They want to be known as experts in their field and want to be highly respected in their skillset, so they put in the time and hard work to accomplish that.

3. Reliable

Compared to the average candidate, veterans are some of the most reliable candidates to work with. They are always prepared and are very efficient with time management and respect other people's time because they know it is important.

Working with many different types of people in a fast paced environment, especially in the tech industry, is normal. Veterans have the experience and skills to be cross-functional when it comes to situations. They work well under high pressure and can make quick decisions when needed.

5. Perspective on the bigger picture

Having a perspective on the bigger picture is important in an employee because it shows maturity. Veterans tend to have a higher-level outlook because they understand what is in their control and what isn't. They also know how to control their own environment and how to let go of the things that are outside of their control. This type of mentality is very important for the workplace and results in a calm and confident attitude.

According to Joseph Kernan, NS2 Serves Chairman and Vice Admiral (Ret.), U.S. Navy, in an article from the Business Journal, "Hiring a veteran not only provides your company with a devoted employee who has the potential to become a highly productive member of the team, but you're also giving a deserving veteran a fresh start in post-military life and a chance at a fulfillinig career." Looking to hire a veteran? Contact Workbridge here so we can help find you the right talent for the job.

Ready to start your tech job search? Here are some resources to help guide you to a job you'll love: